Rockland nonprofits rally against proposed cuts; video

Kim Cross, executive director of the Nyack Center, addresses the crowd Tuesday during a rally for the restoration of funds to nonprofit organizations in the 2015 Rockland County budget in New City.(Photo: Laural Incalcaterra/The Journal News)Buy Photo

Carrying signs that read "Keep Our Community Strong," "Nonprofits Rock in Rockland," and "United We Stand," supporters cheered as Kim Cross, executive director of the Nyack Center, touted the benefits of the organizations.

"Rockland nonprofits are not a luxury, they're a necessity," she said, stressing the organizations' economic contributions, which include bringing $500 million from outside Rockland into the county annually and employing more than 7,000 people.

"We encourage our county executive and legislature to create a balanced budget together that does not jeopardize the fiscal health of our county and to remind Rockland County why we are here," Cross said.

She said Rockland's nonprofits protect the most vulnerable of people, including children, teens, and the elderly.

Another 33 jobs in security, hospital radiology, laundry and the Department of Social Services' Managed Care Unit would be outsourced and the county workers laid off. An additional 41 jobs across departments would also be cut.

Rob Tyrrell, on behalf of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, said Day's cuts will also mean a loss of matching funds.

"This large and severe cut all at once gives us little time to restructure and obtain grants in order to keep the agency afloat," Tyrrell said.

Sue Rutledge, a former county employee and a business leader who has represented nonprofits, told legislators she has called on the services of United Hospice of Rockland.

"United Hospice helped both of my parents die with dignity, without pain, surrounded by family and friends," Rutledge said. "They provided an alternative to repeated hospitalizations, intrusive tests and loss of dignity."

She is concerned the vital service won't be readily available if the budget cuts are put in place.

Cylinda Whitted found herself homeless and without work after she needed to care for her 3-year-old son who was burned while at his day care in the South Bronx.

She moved to Rockland and connected with Nyack Headstart and then the Nyack Center. Both organizations have helped to provide care for her son, allowing her to find a job and a home.

"I started out displaced," Whitted said. "I ended up a contributor of Rockland County and I'm a very positive community worker."

But a loss of Nyack Center's day care services would be devastating, she said, due to the high cost of other such services.

Winsome Downie Rainford, president of the Martin Luther King Multi-purpose Center board of directors, said it was worth restoring the funding.

"Help us to keep alive Dr. King's dream of building a beloved community here in Rockland County," she said. "This is the prudent course of action for Rockland County. It's going to be a lot more expensive to pay for a lost generation of young people on the back end through unemployment and incarceration," she said.

She also asked legislators to raise county taxes "to preserve our Rockland County organizations that serve our community."

Al Samuels, president of the Rockland Business Association, essentially warned legislators that they were being watched — by the credit rating agencies, the bond market and the state.

He said they need to keep the county on the path of fiscal integrity by paying off the deficit and staying at the 2 percent cap.